The Lake Champlain Transportation Company (LCTC or LCT) is a vehicle ferry operator that runs three routes across

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; , ) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the U.S. states of New York (state), New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canadian province of Quebec. The cities of Burlington, Ve ...

between the US states of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

. From 1976 to 2003, the company was owned by

Burlington, Vermont Burlington, officially the City of Burlington, is the List of municipalities in Vermont, most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the county seat, seat of Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County. It is located south of the Can ...

, businessman Raymond C. Pecor Jr., who is chairman of its board. In 2003, he sold the company to his son, Raymond Pecor III. Lake Champlain is the thirteenth-largest lake in the United States, reaching a maximum width of and depths of more than . As such, there is no bridging of the "broad lake" north of

Crown Point, New York Crown Point is a town in Essex County, New York, United States, located on the west shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 2,024 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is a direct translation of the original French name, . The town is on ...

, and south of the Rouses Point– Alburgh– Swanton crossing near the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

, though bridging of the lake near Plattsburgh has been proposed. Approximately one million passengers cross the lake by ferry each year.

Service area

Service was originally provided at three points, listed from south to north: *

Charlotte, Vermont Charlotte is a New England town, town in Chittenden County, Vermont, Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. The town was named for Queen Charlotte, though unlike Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlottesville, Virginia, and other cities and towns ...

to Essex, New York *

Port Kent, New York Port Kent is a Hamlet (place)#New York, hamlet within the town of Chesterfield, New York, Chesterfield, Essex County, New York, United States, on the western shore of Lake Champlain. Its population was last recorded as 217 (141 households). Its ...

* Grand Isle, Vermont to

Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh is a city in and the county seat of Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. The population of the sur ...

at Cumberland Head All runs employ at least two double-ended diesel ferries, making the crossings in opposite directions. All ferries are capable of carrying large trucks as well as cars, bicycles, and foot passengers and are of a roll-on, roll-off design (although they can operate single-ended in the event of an engine failure). Under the terms of the Maritime Transportation Security Act, vehicles and luggage brought on board some LCT vessels may be subject to search. Most runs are considered quite scenic. During the summer, the company also provides dinner cruises and charters from Burlington as well as special runs that allow the watching of the

Independence Day An independence day is an annual event memorialization, commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or Sovereign state, statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or after the end of a milit ...

fireworks display at the Burlington waterfront.

Charlotte–Essex

The Charlotte–Essex ferry is run year-round, but may not operate if there is heavy icing on the lake. This became a year-round route in 1998 and has operated year-round all but two winters since. Until the 1920s when the Champlain Bridge was built, this was the primary route for cross-lake travel.

Burlington–Port Kent

The Burlington–Port Kent ferry crossed the maximum width of the lake and did not operate in the winter. This crossing took approximately one hour. The ferry last operated in 2019, and has not run since.

Grand Isle–Plattsburgh

The Grand Isle–Plattsburgh ferry is an ice-breaking route and provides 24-hour service year-round. The crossing on this route takes approximately 12 minutes. In 2001, the company spoke out against a proposed plan to build a bridge that would replace this route.

Crown Point–Chimney Point

In addition, a temporary ferry operated by the company, for free at the expense of the states of New York and Vermont at a cost to the states of about $10 per car, once operated from

, to

Chimney Point, Vermont Chimney Point is a peninsula in the town of Addison, Vermont, which juts into Lake Champlain forming a narrows. It is one of the earliest settled and most strategic sites in the Champlain Valley. For thousands of years, the locale was occupied b ...

. This 20 minute crossing operated 24-hours per day due to the removal of the Champlain Bridge due to structural problems and the construction of a new span. With the opening of the new Lake Champlain Bridge, this ferry crossing was no longer needed, so the service ended on November 7, 2011.

The ferries used by the LCTC

Ferries currently in use

left, 200px, ''Plattsburgh'', ''Cumberland'', and (in the background) ''EWW'' Ferries currently used by the Lake Champlain Transportation Company, including six vessels that can run in ice: * The ''Evans Wadhams Wolcott'' (built 1988 to run in ice; the "EWW", pronounced "E, double-U, double-U" and named after Lewis P. Evans Jr., Richard H. Wadhams and James G. Wolcott, the founders of the modern company) * The ''Governor George D. Aiken'' (built 1975; named after the former governor of Vermont and U.S. Senator) * The ''Grand Isle'' (built 1953; was overhauled in the 1995 and extended by ; this vessel now runs in ice; named after the Vermont town but running on the Charlotte-Essex crossing) * The ''Northern Lights'' (built 2002 to resemble the steamer Ticonderoga; used for public scenic and charter cruises under the brand "Lake Champlain Cruises.") * The ''Plattsburgh'' (built 1984 to run in the ice; named after

) * The ''Valcour'' (built 1947 from WWII surplus; named after Valcour Island, site of a military battle; this vessel was the last ferry to be built on Lake Champlain and was constructed at the historic Shelburne Shipyard) * The ''Vermont'' (built 1992 to run in ice) * The ''Cumberland'' (built 2000 to run in ice; named for Cumberland Head, the specific location of the Plattsburgh ferry slip) * The ''Raymond C. Pecor Jr.,''(built 2010) named for Raymond Pecor who ran the company from 1976 to 2004, father of Trey Pecor (aka Raymond Pecor III), the company's current president. (Raymond Pecor is also the owner of the

Vermont Lake Monsters The Vermont Lake Monsters are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Burlington, Vermont, United States, who were founded in 1994 as the Vermont Expos. They were members of Minor League Baseball, in the New York–Penn League (NYPL), ...

, a minor league baseball team headquartered in Burlington.)

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a Stimulus (economics), stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed ...

grants totalling approximately $600,000 were used under the National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program to reduce emissions by the ferries.

Decommissioned ferries

Some of the ferries that have been used by LCTC in the past: * The ''Adirondack'' ** The oldest, in-service, double-ended ferryboat of all time, built in 1913, named after the

Adirondack Mountains The Adirondack Mountains ( ) are a massif of mountains in Northeastern New York which form a circular dome approximately wide and covering about . The region contains more than 100 peaks, including Mount Marcy, which is the highest point in Ne ...

. ** Scrapped in 2022 * The ''Champlain'' ** Built in 1930. Also doubled as a charter cruise boat for large groups under the brand "Lake Champlain Cruises". ** Scrapped in 2022 * The ''Charlotte'' * The ''Essex'' * The ''Mount Marcy''

History

From about 1820 to 1850, approximately five horse ferry crossings operated on Lake Champlain. The Burlington Bay Horse Ferry shipwreck discovered in 1983 in Lake Champlain is an example of a turntable team boat. "Horse-powered ferries like the one sunk in the Bay of

, had reached their heyday in the 1830s and 1840s. Eventually, in the 1850s, the steam boat took over and the days of horse-powered ferries quickly came to an end."
A brief history of the vessels owned by the Lake Champlain Transportation Co. from 1948–2010
is available online.

Ice-breaking on Lake Champlain

During the winter, Lake Champlain sometimes ices over, making ferry service on the long Burlington-Port Kent route impractical. The Grand Isle-Cumberland Head route is short enough to maintain an open channel, and the distance to the Rouses Point bridge makes it practical for substantial motor traffic to use the ferry, justifying the difficulty of keeping the ferry service operating. The ferries used on this run are of the ice-breaking type; their hulls and propellers are reinforced to allow the boats to operate through thin or broken ice. By operating continuously, the ferries maintain an open channel throughout the winter ice season. In the past, the ferries did not operate around the clock, but in winter time, a few runs were made through the night to prevent the ice from freezing solidly. Now, scheduled runs continue throughout the night. image:LCTC ferry EWW in winter 2.jpg, ''EWW'' sitting in the Grand Isle slip during ice-breaking season image:LCTC ferry EWW in winter 1.jpg, ''EWW'' moving west through the icy channel towards Plattsburgh image:LCTC ferry Cumberland in winter 1.jpg, ''Cumberland'' headed east to Grand Isle

Charitable donations

Lake Champlain Transportation is the largest contributor to the Pecor Family Foundation, contributing over $250,000 in the tax years 2006–2008. The foundation makes large contributions to such charities as the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. The ACS publishes the journals ''Cancer'', '' CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians'' and '' Cancer Cytopathology''. History The society w ...

and

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

, and to educational institutions such as the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...

and Champlain College.Guide Star: Pecor Family Foundation, Burlington, Vt., IRS 990 Forms.
(registration required)

References

* ''Lake Champlain Ferryboats'',

External links

* {{Authority control American companies established in 1826 Ferry companies of New York (state) Ferry companies of Vermont Icebreakers of the United States Tourism in New York (state) Tourism in Vermont Transportation in New England Transportation in Essex County, New York Transportation in Chittenden County, Vermont Transportation in Grand Isle County, Vermont Transportation in Addison County, Vermont Transportation in Clinton County, New York Tourist attractions in Essex County, New York 1826 establishments in Vermont Transport companies established in 1826 Lake Champlain Companies based in Burlington, Vermont